billow

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Idioms, Encyclopedia.

billow

a surge of the sea; a swell, breaker, crest; to swell out as by the wind: The boat’s sails billow in the wind.

Not to be confused with:

below – under; in a lower place; beneath the surface of the water: what lies below

bil·low

(bĭl′ō)

1. A large wave or swell of water.

2. A great swell, surge, or undulating mass, as of smoke or sound.

v. bil·lowed, bil·low·ing, bil·lows

v.intr.

1. To surge or roll in billows.

2. To swell out or bulge: sheets billowing in the breeze.

v.tr.

To cause to billow: wind that billowed the sails.

[From Old Norse bylgja, a wave; see bhelgh- in Indo-European roots.]

bil′low·i·ness n.

bil′low·y adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

billow

(ˈbɪləʊ)

1. (Physical Geography) a large sea wave

2. a swelling or surging mass, as of smoke or sound

3. (Physical Geography) a large atmospheric wave, usually in the lee of a hill

4. (plural) poetic the sea itself

to rise up, swell out, or cause to rise up or swell out

[C16: from Old Norse bylgja; related to Swedish bōlja, Danish bölg, Middle High German bulge; see bellow, belly]

ˈbillowing adj, n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bil•low

(ˈbɪl oʊ)
n.

1. a great wave or surge of the sea.

2. any surging mass: billows of smoke.

v.i.

3. to rise or roll in billows; surge.

4. to swell out, puff up, etc.

v.t.

5. to cause to billow.

[1545–55; < Old Norse bylgja wave]

billow

- The swell on the ocean produced by the wind, or on a river or estuary by the tide or wind.

billow

Past participle: billowed
Gerund: billowing

Imperative
billow
billow

Present
I billow
you billow
he/she/it billows
we billow
you billow
they billow

Preterite
I billowed
you billowed
he/she/it billowed
we billowed
you billowed
they billowed

Present Continuous
I am billowing
you are billowing
he/she/it is billowing
we are billowing
you are billowing
they are billowing

Present Perfect
I have billowed
you have billowed
he/she/it has billowed
we have billowed
you have billowed
they have billowed

Past Continuous
I was billowing
you were billowing
he/she/it was billowing
we were billowing
you were billowing
they were billowing

Past Perfect
I had billowed
you had billowed
he/she/it had billowed
we had billowed
you had billowed
they had billowed

Future
I will billow
you will billow
he/she/it will billow
we will billow
you will billow
they will billow

Future Perfect
I will have billowed
you will have billowed
he/she/it will have billowed
we will have billowed
you will have billowed
they will have billowed

Future Continuous
I will be billowing
you will be billowing
he/she/it will be billowing
we will be billowing
you will be billowing
they will be billowing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been billowing
you have been billowing
he/she/it has been billowing
we have been billowing
you have been billowing
they have been billowing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been billowing
you will have been billowing
he/she/it will have been billowing
we will have been billowing
you will have been billowing
they will have been billowing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been billowing
you had been billowing
he/she/it had been billowing
we had been billowing
you had been billowing
they had been billowing

Conditional
I would billow
you would billow
he/she/it would billow
we would billow
you would billow
they would billow

Past Conditional
I would have billowed
you would have billowed
he/she/it would have billowed
we would have billowed
you would have billowed
they would have billowed

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	billow - a large sea wave surge moving ridge, wave - one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)
Verb	1.	billow - rise up as if in waves; "smoke billowed up into the sky" wallow soar, soar up, soar upwards, surge, zoom - rise rapidly; "the dollar soared against the yen" cloud - billow up in the form of a cloud; "The smoke clouded above the houses"
	2.	billow - move with great difficulty; "The soldiers billowed across the muddy riverbed" go, locomote, move, travel - change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically; "How fast does your new car go?"; "We travelled from Rome to Naples by bus"; "The policemen went from door to door looking for the suspect"; "The soldiers moved towards the city in an attempt to take it before night fell"; "news travelled fast"
	3.	billow - rise and move, as in waves or billows; "The army surged forward" surge, heave inflate, blow up - fill with gas or air; "inflate a balloons"
	4.	billow - become inflated; "The sails ballooned" balloon, inflate reflate - become inflated again expand - become larger in size or volume or quantity; "his business expanded rapidly"

billow

verb

1. surge, roll, expand, swell, balloon, belly, bulge, dilate, puff up, bloat the billowing sails

2. flow, course, rush, stream, emit, run, gush, spout, spew thick plumes of smoke billowing from factory chimneys

noun

1. surge, wave, flow, rush, flood, cloud, gush, deluge, upsurge, outpouring, uprush billows of almost solid black smoke

2. wave, surge, tide, swell, roller, crest, breaker a wild sea, with immense billows breaking upon our ship

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

مَوْجَةٌ عارِمه

veliká vlna

bølgesø

Woge

lame

hullám: nagy hullám

alda, bylgja

flutto ondeggiare

banguojantisdidelė bangaišsipūsti

bangaliels vilnis

stor bølge

вал

veľká vlna

büyük dalga

巨浪

billow

[ˈbɪləʊ]

A. N → oleada f
the billows (liter) → las olas, el mar

B. VI [smoke] → salir en nubes; [sail] → ondear

billow out VI + ADV → hincharse (de viento etc)

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

billow

[ˈbɪləʊ]

n [smoke] → nuage m

[smoke] → s'élever en nuage

[sail, curtain, robes] → se gonflerbilly goat [ˈbɪligəʊt] n → bouc m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

billow

(liter, of sea) → Woge f (geh)

(fig, of dress etc) → Bauschen nt no pl; (of sail) → Blähen nt no pl; (of smoke) → Schwaden m

(liter, sea) → wogen (geh)

(fig, sail) → sich blähen; (dress etc) → sich bauschen; (smoke) → in Schwaden vorüberziehen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

billow

[ˈbɪləʊ]

1. n (of smoke) → nuvola; (of sail) → rigonfiamento

2. vi (smoke) → alzarsi in volute; (sail) → gonfiarsi

billow

(ˈbiləu) noun

a large wave.

ˈbillowy adjective

billow out

to move in a way similar to large waves. The sails billowed out in the strong wind; Her skirt billowed out in the breeze.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

In despair, casting about frantically among the magazines, he had sent it to THE BILLOW, a society weekly in San Francisco.

There was also a postscript to the effect that though THE BILLOW carried no free-list, it took great pleasure in sending him a complimentary subscription for the ensuing year.

View in context

But at that moment he is sprung upon by a panther billow leaping over the bulwarks.

Delight is to him, whom all the waves of the billows of the seas of the boisterous mob can never shake from this sure Keel of the Ages.

View in context

At the same instant a terrific detonation split the ears; and when I rose on the next bald billow, where the ship lay burning a few seconds before, there remained but a red-hot spine that hissed and dwindled for another minute, and then left a blackness through which every star shone with redoubled brilliance.

View in context

Suddenly, upon a great blue billow that came rolling in, she saw the Water-Spirits smiling on her; and high aloft, in their white gleaming arms, her child stretched forth his hands to welcome her; while the little voice she so longed to hear again cried gayly,--

But when tempests rose, she hastened down below the stormy billows, to where all was calm and still, and with her sister Spirits waited till it should be fair again, listening sadly, meanwhile, to the cries of those whom the wild waves wrecked and cast into the angry sea, and who soon came floating down, pale and cold, to the Spirits' pleasant home; then they wept pitying tears above the lifeless forms, and laid them in quiet graves, where flowers bloomed, and jewels sparkled in the sand.

View in context

here, far water-locked; beyond all hum of human weal or woe; in these most candid and impartial seas; where to traditions no rocks furnish tablets; where for long Chinese ages, the billows have still rolled on speechless and unspoken to, as stars that shine upon the Niger's unknown source; here, too, life dies sunwards full of faith; but see!

View in context

Then the wind pushed the edges of the ripples until they became waves, and shoved the waves around until they became billows. The billows rolled dreadfully high: higher even than the tops of houses.

View in context

The sand lay in billows, and was in places very uneven, so that the boat rocked dangerously from side to side; but it never quite tipped over, and the speed was so great that the shaggy man himself became frightened and began to wonder how he could make the ship go slower.

View in context

So I must have lain for hours, continually beaten to and fro upon the billows, now and again wetted with flying sprays, and never ceasing to expect death at the next plunge.

View in context

We were walking on fine, even sand, not wrinkled, as on a flat shore, which retains the impression of the billows. This dazzling carpet, really a reflector, repelled the rays of the sun with wonderful intensity, which accounted for the vibration which penetrated every atom of liquid.

View in context

CITE

Site: Follow: Share:

Open / Close